


Finding Your Niche

by David_Ginsberg



Series: World Meets Girl [1]
Category: Boy Meets World, Girl Meets World
Genre: Alternate Universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-19
Updated: 2017-12-19
Packaged: 2018-11-23 08:34:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 5,231
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11398941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/David_Ginsberg/pseuds/David_Ginsberg
Summary: Shawn Hunter is a successful advertising executive and newly-widowed father, but his past may yet catch up to him, and his 'niece' Riley Matthews may be the means by which it does so.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story is an AU set several years after my series The Pink Flamingo Kid. Riley and Maya's births have been pushed back to 2005 to let Topanga finish law school, and the story takes place in 2016.

Noah rubbed the sleep from his eyes as his dad lowered the boat into the water.

“Ready, kiddo?” his dad asked.

Noah smiled and nodded. They clambered into the boat and putted to the middle of Lake Tahoe, where they cast their lines into the water. Neither said anything for a long time as the sun gradually cleared the morning mist. Most boys Noah’s age would have been getting antsy, but he enjoyed staring at the water and not having to think about anything.

Shawn finally broke the silence. “You’re going to need to put on sunscreen before too long.”

“I put some on before we left.”

Shawn tousled his son's hair. “Still, better safe than sorry.”

After a few minutes, Noah thought he felt something tugging at his line and reeled it in. It turned out that something had stolen his bait. Shawn took the opportunity to reapply sunscreen before baiting the hook.

“So how’s life, Slim Jim?”

Noah sank his line back into the water. “OK, I guess.”

“What do you think about the Phillies?”

“We should be good if Bucholz can get off the DL.”

There was another long silence before Noah spoke again. “We’re making mother’s day cards in school next week.”

Noah’s dad sighed. “Do you want me to talk to Ms. Kim?”

“No, she’d make me go see the guidance counselor again.”

“You know, your mom saved every card you ever made her.”

“She won’t get to save this one.” Noah was just starting to get upset.

“I know, but you need to remember that she did.” Shawn reeled his line in. “You know who I bet would love a Mother’s Day card?”

“Who?”

“Aunt Topanga.”

Sam smiled, “Yeah, I’ll make one for her instead.”


	2. Chapter 2

Noah Hunter retrieved his homework from his backpack and went downstairs. His dad was in the kitchen.

“Hey, I need your help with a project for social studies.”

“What is it?” Shawn asked.

Noah read off a photocopied worksheet. “I’m supposed to interview you to write your biography, and about what life was like when you were a kid.”

Shawn laughed, “well when I was your age cell phones were the size of a brick and the internet played that techno music you like for five minutes before letting you log on.”

“log on?”

“We only had the internet at school back then.”

Noah made a note in his binder. “Ok, so what were your parents like?”

“You know what, why don’t you call up Grandma Alice and ask her about your mom's childhood?”

Noah rolled his eyes. “I don't want to turn this into something about mom. Mr. Uy will try to make me go to the counselor." 

"He'll be trying a lot harder if you show up with a bunch of stories about Grandma Virna, trust me."

“Come on, you must have some funny stories about when you were a kid.”

“Let’s see, there was that time we tried to straighten Cory’s hair.”

“I can’t use that one, it’s an episode of his show. Mr. Uy'll think I’m making things up.”

“Ok, well how about the story of how I got flesh-eating bacteria.”

“The point of the project is to learn about what life was like when you were kids. Like, what was your house like?”

“We lived in a trailer.”

Noah noticed that his dad’s jaw was set in a way that usually meant he was in trouble, and decided to wrap it up.

“Ok, so what kind of music did you listen to.”

“A lot of Counting Crows, some Toad the Wet Sprocket, Nirvana, Pearl Jam…”

“So basically the same music you make me listen to in the car?”

“Pretty much.”

“I guess I can work with that.”


	3. Chapter 3

Cory Matthews found himself standing in line to present at his daughter Riley’s career day right behind Katy Hart, the mother of his daughter’s best friend, Maya. Maya was also the half-niece of Cory's childhood best friend Shawn, who paid her tuition. It had long ago been decided not to inform the girls of this relationship, which meant that every interaction between Cory and Katy was exquisitely awkward.

“So, how'd the soap opera audition go?” Cory asked. Katy was a perpetually struggling actress. He immediately realized from the look on Katy’s face that he’d stepped in it.

“Not well.”

“Oh, ah…”

Fortunately, Katy was called in to present before Cory could formulate a response. She emerged a few minutes later, looking humiliated, and was immediately followed by Riley.

“You did fine, you showed up,” Riley attempted to reassure her.

Cory cleared his and tried to signal to Riley to stop interfering. Before she could get her attention, Maya stepped out into the hallway.

“Hi, mom.”

“Hey, Maya.”

“Could I ask you a favor?”

“Of course, anything.”

“I think it works best for us when you go on your imaginary auditions and chase my imaginary father. I appreciate your coming, I do. And I'm not humiliated. I'm not. I'm- I'm okay. You okay?”

Mercifully, the teacher called Cory in, and he shoved Riley through the door in front of him. Cory stood at the front of the class and cleared his throat.

“Hello, I’m Riley’s father, Cory, and I’m a television writer. You guys may be familiar with the show I’m currently working on, _Boy Meets World._ So, does anybody have any questions?” Cory pointed to the first kid who raised their hand. He was pretty sure the kid's name was Wesley.

“Where do you get the ideas for your show?”

“Well, the show’s based on my childhood growing up, so a lot of the things on it actually happened to me. For other episodes I change something that happened to me around slightly to make for better television. For example, when I was you kids’ age I copied off my friends IQ test, but for the TV show I changed to us finding the answers in the trash.”

“So is Shawn a real person?”

“Oh, he’s real alright,” Riley interrupted.

Cory gave her a dirty look. “Yes, Shawn is a real person. Actually, he’s a famous author now. But its hard to follow television shows with lots of characters, so sometimes I’ll take something that happened to one of my other friends growing up and write it so that it happened to Shawn.”

"Did he really blow up a mailbox?"

"Yes." 

"Cool, did he end up going out with Topanga?"

"No, um, actually I ended up marrying Topanga."

“Did he ever get married?”  
“Yes.” Cory felt a catch in his throat. “He married a woman he met right after college, and they were very happy together.”  
Cory decided that he didn’t want to continue this line of questioning, so he called on a girl in the back.

“So can you get Maya’s mom a job?”

“You know what, I am out of time.”

Cory had been the last parent to present before the bell rang, and the teacher followed him and Riley outside.

“I just wanted you to know that your show has really helped Wesley.”

“Wesley?”

“The boy who was asking you all those questions about Shawn. His dad left a couple of years ago, and it’s been very hard on him emotionally. He really identifies with Shawn.”

“I’ll tell Shawn that next time I see him.”

“So, did he get a happy ending?”

Cory knew that was the next question Wesley would have asked, and was glad he’d cut him off.

The teacher must have noticed the look on Cory’s face. “I’m sorry if that was a sensitive question.”

Cory sighed. “Oh, no, it’s not you. It’s just that…Shawn’s wife died a few months ago.”

“I’m so sorry.”


	4. Chapter 4

Cory followed his daughter out of the art show and into a retro-styled diner on Broadway, the Nighthawk. He couldn’t figure out what she was there for until he saw Katy. Evidently Riley had inherited his tendency for scheming.

Cory walked up behind Riley and cleared his throat. “Excuse my daughter.”

Katy smiled falsely. “Oh, it’s no problem. Now if you’ll excuse me I’ve got tables to bus.”

Cory walked Riley back to the school.

“Are you mad?”

“No, I probably would have done the same thing to Shawn when I was your age.”

Riley felt safe to roll her eyes. “Oh boy, another Uncle Shawn story.”

“Hey, he’s a good kid.”

“Dad, he’s 37.”

“Don’t remind me.”

“And you always kick me out of my room when he comes over.”

“Well, it’s not fair to make him sleep in a hotel on Christmas.”

“It’s fair to make me sleep in the living room?”

“It’s different.”

“How so?”

“Hotels are…impersonal. Shawn’s Christmases growing up weren’t that great; so I want to make sure that now he and Noah have a family to come home to.”

Riley rolled her eyes, but said nothing.


	5. Chapter 5

Shawn and Noah had a tradition on the weekends to watch the best horror movies (by Shawn’s quality standards) on Netflix. Shawn made conversation while the popcorn popped.

“So how did that social studies project go?”

“I got a D. The teacher said it was supposed to be more about what your everyday life was like.”

“I don’t see how that’s any of his goddamn business,” Shawn grumbled.

“You wrote a book about your dad, didn’t you? Maybe I can bring it in for make-up credit.”

“It’s not appropriate for kids. And who told you I wrote it?”

“Uncle Eric, and you’re about to let me watch _Village of the Cannibal Stripper.”_

“Well if you want me to keep letting you watch it, you’ll drop the subject.”

They were midway through the movie when Shawn’s phone rang.

“Ugh. It’s Cory, I’d better take it in case someone died or something.” Normally, Shawn would have let it go to voicemail, but Cory wouldn't call around this time unless it was important.

 Shawn answered the phone.

“Hello.”

“It’s Cory.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“Listen, I overheard Riley talking to Maya.”

“Is this a scheme that involves me?"

"It involves Riley wanting to find Maya's Dad."

“Ok, Riley probably shouldn’t overhear this. Did you check the hallway?”

“Yes.”

“Breakfast nook?”

“Yes.”

“Fire escape?”

“Yes.”

“Under the counter?”

“Umm…”

Shawn heard the noise of Cory chasing Riley out from under his kitchen counter.

Cory came back on the phone. “Ok, coast is clear.”

“So, can you just, like, tell her to butt out?”

"Maya seemed more enthusiastic about it that I expected. Shawn, you know we agreed that we'd tell them eventually."

"Yeah, but in my head eventually meant when they were at least in high school."

"Well, maybe they'll run down a dead end."

Shawn hung up the phone and returned to the living room.

“Did anyone die?” Noah asked jokingly.

“Not quite.”


	6. Chapter 6

Riley was recreationally snooping in the Nighthawk Diner when she saw Maya’s mom talking to none other than Shawn Hunter. His advertising firm has an office in New York, so it wasn’t unusual for him to be in town on business, but he would typically drop by their apartment first.

Riley quietly positioned herself at an angle where she could hear their conversation, but where they wouldn’t be likely to look in her direction.

Shawn pushed a check across the table. "This should cover next semester's tuition and Christmas presents. How are her school clothes holding up?"

“They're fine. We got a winter coat with the last check you sent."

"Listen, Katy, Cory told me he overheard Maya and Riley talking about finding Maya's dad. Have you told Maya anything?”

“I told her that her father was named Eddie Cordini, and that I drove him away."

"I hate that you have to lie like that."

"Well, a girl ought to think well of her father. When will you be in town again?”

“We’re spending Christmas with the Matthews.”

“We?”

“Me, my son, and my mother.”

“Virna?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, I guess we’ll see you at Christmas then.”

Shawn got up and left, followed by Riley.

She confronted him outside the diner. “Hey, jerk!”

“What? Riley, were you listening in on my conversation?”

“Yeah, you think now that you’re rich you can just cut a bunch of checks and Maya’s going to forgive you for everything.”

Shawn’s mind briefly returned to the letters he’d sent Jack as a child, and he realized with horror that Maya could very well have been doing the same thing to him. “Riley,” he asked with forced calm, “what does she have to forgive me for?”

“I dunno, maybe running out on her and her mom instead of acting like a real father.”

Shawn realized that Riley had dramatically misinterpreted the conversation she’d overheard, and that Maya probably wouldn't leap straight to the assumption that he was her uncle without knowing anything else about her father. “You know the problem with listening in on other people’s conversations? You only hear part of the story.”

"What's the other part?"

Shawn sighed, realizing that there was no way to disprove Riley's suspicions without telling her the truth.

"I'm not Maya's father; I'm her uncle."

"Really?"

“Yeah. I have a half-brother named Eddie Cordini.” Shawn leaned over until his eyes were level with Riley’s “Listen to me, I know you want to fix things, but you cannot tell Maya anything about this.”

“She deserves to know.”

Shawn raised his voice slightly “And the _adults_ will decide how to tell her. If this isn’t handled properly it could cause her lasting harm. So don’t go planning one of your little schemes. You don’t understand enough about the world to pull it off.”

“I know more about the world than you think.”

“No you don’t. You think you do, but the world you know about is the world your parents set up for you where everyone means well and everything turns out fine in the end. In the real world there are people who would use this information to hurt Maya, and there’s nothing you’ll be able to do to stop them.”

Shawn took Riley by the arm and practically dragged her to her apartment building. When they opened the door Cory was apparently trying to cheer Maya up about her quasi-absentee mother.

“Maya, you know how much I like your mother.”

“I know you do, you always defend her.”

“Because at least she’s not…”

Topanga had noticed Shawn standing in the hallway and moved in to stop Cory. “No, everything's fine! Stop talking!”

Cory ploughed heedlessly ahead “…Shawn's mother! What a cuckoo. ‘Ah, it's Tuesday! I better run away!’” Cory laughed while Topanga cringed visibly. “You have to laugh, huh, Topanga? Nice face.”

“You want to turn around or you want me to turn you around?”

Cory turned around “How you doin', Shawn?”

“Well, it ain't Tuesday, so pretty good.”

“What, ummm…what brings you to New York? And why do you have Riley?”

“Actually, I kind of wanted to talk to you about that…” Shawn glared at Riley, “in _private_ , with somebody else watching the kids.”

Topanga ushered Maya, Riley, and Auggie into Maya’s bedroom and entertained them while Shawn and Cory had a Serious Discussion in the living room.

That night, after Riley had put on her pajamas, Cory came into her room and sat down in her bay window.

“Come here, Riley.”

Riley dutifully sat next to him.

Corey put his arm around her. “So I hear you and Uncle Shawn had a bit of an argument.”

“He says I can’t help Maya.”

“Look, I promise you we’re going to help Maya, we just have to do it carefully so that she doesn’t get hurt.”

Riley rolled her eyes. “You sound just like him, except nicer. He said you and Mom made up a world for me where everybody’s nice, but in the real world people are gonna hurt Maya.”

“That’s not quite what he meant.”

“What did he mean?”

“Shawn is afraid that people will be mean to Maya because her parents aren’t together anymore and she doesn’t have much money.”

“Why would people be mean to her about that? That isn’t her fault.”

“I know, sweetie. Sometimes people are mean just because they can be. And also, Maya’s Dad wasn’t very nice. You and I are both very lucky, because we grew up surrounded by love, and warmth, and security. Other people didn’t have that, and it can be hard for them to recognize it when they see it.”

“Like Uncle Shawn.”

“Yeah, like Uncle Shawn. What I’ve learned from being best friends with Uncle Shawn for 32 years is that there are times when he’s overly cynical and times when I’m overly naïve, and together we balance each other out.”

“So this is one of the times he’s being cynical?”

“No, this time he’s being appropriately cautious, and I agree with him that you shouldn’t tell Maya. The best thing you can do for her right now is to show her what a good friend is like, ok?”

“Ok.”

"And maybe not so much with the listening in on other people's conversations, ok?"

"Ok."


	7. Chapter 7

Shawn decided to bring things up with Noah over dinner.

“So, Slim Jim,” Shawn started, “we’ll be doing Christmas in New York this year.”

“Oh, joy,” Noah responded sarcastically, “the Riley and Maya show.”

“So, actually, I'd been meaning to talk to you about Maya. We were planning to hold off on this until you kids were older, but Riley overheard us so we need to speed things up a bit. Maya is actually your cousin.”

“Huh?”

Shawn handed Noah a copy of a DNA test. Noah read it and then looked up.

“So Uncle Jack had another kid this whole time and never told us about it?”

“No, I have another half-brother named Eddie.”

“You know that could have been useful for that social studies project I got a D on.”

“You _cannot_ tell anybody at school about this.”

“Why not?”

“This is just one of those things you can’t tell other people about, like Grandma Virna’s happy pills.”

“is this by any chance _related_ to Grandma Virna’s happy pills?”

“Ummm…sort of.”

“You know, if you just sent a note to the teacher that said you never talk about your mom because she’s hopped up on Xanax, he’d probably let me make up the project.”

“You’re really still mad about that?”

“It’s dragging my grade down to a C.”

“You know, when I was your age, I would have been lucky to get a C in social studies.”

“Yeah, yeah, and you had to walk barefoot to school uphill both ways.”

Shawn had to laugh. “No, I was part of the light-up sneaker generation. Seriously, though, don’t talk about this at school; kids will make fun of you.

“Speaking of which, next Saturday is parent-teacher conferences.”

“Oh, joy.”

The next Saturday found Shawn making the rounds of Noah’s classrooms and squeezing himself into desks designed for 11-year olds. In a break with family tradition, all of the teachers had positive comments about Noah, except for Mr. Uy, the social studies teacher.

“I don’t know how much Noah told you about his last project, but his grade was…disappointing.”

“Is this the one where he was supposed to ask a bunch of questions about my childhood?”

“Yes, Noah’s project included a very engaging story about your medical history and taste in music, but the point of the assignment was to illustrate differences between your life and the life of children today. I was looking more for things like your economic status growing up, the relationship between your parents…”

“…None of those are things that I was especially planning to share with Noah. And I would appreciate it in the future if my child’s school didn’t put me in the position of having to.”

The conference dribbled to an awkward close, and Shawn left with a suddenly quiet Noah.


	8. Chapter 8

Partially as a reward for not spilling the beans, Cory had tasked Riley with ensuring that Maya and her mother were there when Shawn arrived. Without giving anything away, Riley had spent the preceding month hyping up ‘Uncle Shawn,’ with some help from _Boy Meets World,_ which Maya had come over to watch with them every week. When Riley opened the door, Cory was in the kitchen and mildly disappointed that they weren’t Shawn. Riley and Maya helped him with the baking until the intercom buzzed. It turned out to by Cory’s parents, Eric, and Josh, whom Maya instantly took a liking to despite the seven-year age difference. Cory sent Maya and Riley down to help the Matthews with their luggage, giving Maya a chance to make Josh wish he had stayed in Philadelphia.

When they got back upstairs, Cory was chatting with his father, seemingly oblivious to Shawn, who had sat down on the other side of the couch while Noah and Virna (not Riley’s favorite pseudo-relatives) looked on.

 “Gee, Cor, I thought you’d be more excited to see me.”

Cory turned around, sawn, and hugged him excitedly, accidentally smooshing Auggie in the process.

“Shawnie!”

“I told you he was real!” Riley whispered to Maya.

“So that’s your dad’s me?”

“Uh-huh.”

“We’re them?”

“Uh-huh.”

“I don’t see it.”

They went off to Maya’s bedroom, leaving Noah and Josh to entertain Auggie, until Maya’s Mom showed up for dinner. Cory served beef brochettes, and a palpable awkwardness descended over the table.

Katy broke the tension. “Maya, there’s, um, something we need to talk about.”

“Mom, does it have to be in front of everyone?” Maya whined.

“It involves everyone at this table. You see, Mr. Matthews overheard you mention wanting to find your Dad.”

“And he told on me?” Maya gave Cory a dirty look.

“No, he told Mr. Hunter, because it turns out that Mr. Hunter is your father’s half-brother.” Katy handed the DNA test to Maya, who read it slowly.

“So Uncle Shawn, is, like actually my uncle?”

“And you’re his niche,” Eric replied helpfully.

To Riley’s surprise, Maya stood up and threw the paper in Shawn’s face. “Well, I don’t want anything to do with you!” She ran away from the table and attempted to climb out the fire escape, but found the window locked.

“She is _definitely_ related to me,” Shawn remarked, calmly finishing his brochette.

“Maya, what’s wrong?” Riley asked, “I thought you’d be excited.”

“You know about this?”

“I wanted to tell you, but they wouldn’t let me.”

“So you guys planned this all out? Is that what this is? Let’s track down poor little Maya’s uncle so we can pat ourselves on the back? Well guess what, if you’re a friend of my father, then you’re no friend of mine!”

Katy stood up and sighed. “I’ll take her home. You guys enjoy your evening.”


	9. Chapter 9

When Maya awoke the next morning, she found Shawn sitting in the living room, sipping a cup of coffee.

“Cocoa?”

Maya said nothing, but glowered at him.

 “Ok, just to clarify. I haven’t seen your father in 20 years, I never liked him, and Cory almost got him arrested for stealing laptops.”

“If you didn’t like him, then why are you all of a sudden interested in helping out his daughter?”

“Because I didn’t get very lucky when it comes to family, so I take whatever I can get. If you want my advice, as someone who’s been in a situation a little bit similar to yours, you’ll do the same.”

“You’ve been in my situation, huh? Let me ask you this, did your dad leave when you were a baby?”

“No, he stuck around for 12 years to beat the crap out of me, and then he left. But he couldn’t hold a job, so I got to know what it feels like when the other kids make fun of you because your clothes have holes in them and you pay for your lunch with a ticket from the government. And Cory Matthews was the only kid who didn’t make fun of me, so I got to know what it feels like to watch them be a perfect happy family and know that you’ll never have anything like that.”

“Ok, maybe we do have a little bit in common, but I’m still mad at Riley.”

“Don’t be, I already yelled at her.”

“Really, why?”

“She doesn’t understand the part about the other kids.”

When Shawn left, Maya looked up his Wikipedia page. Even though she would never admit it to anyone, not even Riley, she was curious about what her father had been like as a kid.

 _Shawn Patrick Hunter (born December 11, 1979), known as S.P. Hunter, is an American advertising executive and author. His novels and short stories have received numerous awards, including the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for his fifth novel,_ Rain King _. He is also the chairman and managing partner of the advertising firm Hunter-Marsden._

Maya scrolled down to the ‘Personal Life’ section.

_Hunter was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Chet Hunter and Virna Cordini. His mother was of Italian and his father was of English and Irish ancestry. Through his father, Hunter is the half-brother of the investor and entrepreneur Jack Connor, the actor Schneider Long, and Stacy Hunter, lead singer of the post-grunge band Lamestain. Hunter grew up in a trailer park outside of Philadelphia, with a father who was frequently unemployed. Although he has never spoken publicly about his childhood, his novels reflect themes of parental abuse, and his parents both abandoned him when he was 14 years old. Hunter completed high school while living with a teacher and with Connor, and began working at the advertising firm then known as Keller-Marsden as part of a work-study program._

_Hunter’s childhood best friend, Cory Matthews, is a screenwriter and the younger brother of U.S. Senator Eric Matthews. Matthews has acknowledged that the character of the same name in the ABC television show_ Boy Meets World _is based on Hunter._

_Hunter attended the University of Pennsylvania, graduating in 2002 with a B.S. in Marketing. He then became the vice-president in charge of Keller-Marsden’s Los Angeles office. Hunter became the managing partner of Hunter-Marsden in 2005._

_Hunter was one of the initial victims of the necrotizing fasciitis outbreak of 2001, which formed the basis of his third novel,_ Cabin Fever _. He was romantically linked to a number of actresses and models before marrying the director Samantha Abbott (1979-2016) in 2004. Hunter has one child, Noah (born 2005), and currently lives in the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles._

Maya briefly scrolled through the rest of the article and closed the tab. She hadn’t found out anything about her father, but she had apparently found at least one relative she could be proud of.


	10. Chapter 10

That night, after everyone else had gone to sleep, Cory got up and crept downstairs. Shawn was sitting at the dining room table with his laptop and a pile of papers.

“What are those?” Cory asked, pointing to the papers.

“Letters I wrote to Noah when I was traveling.” He held one of them up. “This was from when we opened our office in Beijing.”

“You know I’m kind of surprised you haven’t gone on one of your big road trips yet.”

“Kind of hard to do with an 11-year old. But when they graduate from high school, you and I are totally driving out to see Jack in San Francisco. I didn’t wake you up, did I?”

“No, well, sort of. I figured I’d catch you in the act. How long have you been having trouble sleeping?”

“You mean this time?”

“Yeah.”

“Since Sam first got sick.”

“Have you told anyone?”

“Just Feeny.”

“What’d he say?”

Shawn exhaled. “The first year is the hardest, and the first five years are harder than the ones after that.”

“Have you thought about seeing someone?”

“You mean like a shrink?”

“Yeah.”

Shawn rolled his eyes. “I don’t think I’m doing _that_ badly.”

“I just think…”

“Look, now isn’t a great time for this conversation, we’re going to wake people up.”

“Well, when would be a good time?”

“I'll be back up for work in January. I’ll come over when the kids start school and you can give me the whole speech you’ve been planning.”

“You know me too well.”


	11. Chapter 11

Meanwhile, Riley had decided that Shawn was to blame for the sudden rift between her and her best friend, and was spending the day in a sulk.

“How long do these usually last?” Shawn asked, as she shot him a dirty look from across the room.

“Actually, she’s usually pretty even-tempered,” Topanga replied, “you don’t think this could be the start of adolescence, do you?”

“I’d give yourself a couple of years there.”

“I have something I think will help,” Cory said, “but Shawn’s going to hate it.”

Shawn gave Cory a suspicious look. “What is it?”

Cory lowered his voice so that Riley couldn’t hear. “I sort of knew this was coming, so I wrote a storyline into the Christmas episode that I thought would be relevant.”

“And I’d hate it because…?”

“Remember that Christmas where I tried to give you my basketball?”

“Oh, God.”

“Yeeeaaah…”

“But, you know, we agreed to bowdlerize, right?”

“Totally.”

“So…it’s bowdlerized, right?”

“Right.”

After dinner, they all crammed onto the couch to watch the Christmas episode. Noah was next to his father, and could practically feel the tension emanating from his body. It didn’t help matters that Virna started crying softly at the scene in which Alan informed Cory that Chet had been ‘laid off.’

The episode appeared to have its intended effect on Riley, but the adults and Noah were all left deflated. Noah followed his Dad into Riley’s bedroom, where Shawn was sleeping.

“I’m sorry about the social studies project. I didn’t realize…it was like that.”

Shawn sat down in Riley’s bay window. “No, it’s my fault. Communication isn’t my strong suit. I probably should have tried to ease you into this, but it’s too late now. You know about Grandma Virna’s happy pills, and my Dad was pretty much a textbook alcoholic. I asked Cory not to include this in the TV show, but, uh, there were times when he could…he could be a little rough, especially when he’d been drinking.”

“Oh.”

“I’m not an alcoholic physically, but there have been times in my life where I got drunk to keep from having to face my problems, and I always ended up hurting people I care about. And because you are a Hunter, and despite my best efforts you've had a Hunter childhood, there are probably going to be times in your life when getting too drunk to feel seems like the best option.”

Noah didn’t say anything.

“The point I’m trying to make is; you’re going to see your friends drinking and experimenting with drugs, and most of them are going to enjoy it and never have any long-term problems because of it. I know the stuff you get about that in school isn’t very realistic, but you need to be more careful than most people. You have to remember that you have risk factors that they don’t. I know it’s probably going to be difficult for you to talk to me about, but I promise I’ll do everything I can to help you with whatever it is, ok Slim Jim?”

“Ok, Dad.”


End file.
